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Santa Day

Santa arriving – sleigh courtesy of Belper Rotary

Early Sunday morning and the ferocious weather of Saturday has slightly abated. The two marquees are still standing.

The wind is still stormy and the windmill sails are rattling at us. The helpers are arriving and final preparations are made.

 

 

Santa is due at 11.00 but families are already arriving in spite of the windy and chilly weather. People are so loyal to the mill.

Santa is spotted at the Chesterfield Road gate. There’s excitement in the air as he approaches and we can already hear his bell and the resounding ‘Ho, Ho, Ho’.

Frances Meredith and Vera Bridge in the shop where Santa tickets and other purchases were handled.,

Down from his sleigh – organised by Belper Rotary – he is greeted by his chief helper at the mill, Lynn, who escorts him to his decorated grotto inside the ancient mill.

A final wave at the door and only those with the numbered tickets will now be able to see him. Another helper, Monica, appears at the door, and it is she who will organise entry into the grotto.

Wine or Water with Hannah & Sarah Castledine

Festive music can be heard from inside the mill, and outside we are likewise treated to festive music.

The mill, of course, is a hive of activity with Santa talking to and giving presents to the excited children.  However, there is more activity in the marquees, in the Undercroft next to the Shop, and in the Shop itself, run on this very busy day by Frances and Vera.

Name the Bear (Jenny Land) and Hamper Raffle (Jan Pilkington)

In the marquee Mary and Brian have been busy warming up the Mulled Wine and unwrapping the mince pies, all so welcome on such a cold morning.

But where would a Santa Event be without a big raffle, and a Hamper Raffle? The mill volunteers, David and Jenny with Jan, are offering these and a Name The Bear competition, al0ong with two Tombolas. For the little ones there is an ‘Everything 20p Box’, run by Andrew, who is also keeping an eye on decorative and festively lit bottles, which would brighten up any room.

Clutching a ‘Golden Bottle’ prize is Esmae, seen in the photo with her grandmother Julie and younger sister, Amber. They also won the pictured hamper

The Wine Or Water game, organised by Hannah and Sarah, had two great surprises. As well as the bottles with wine or water, there was a bottle of whisky and a Golden Bottle, which was a hamper they had prepared. The winner was Esmai Goodall, seen in the photo with her mum and younger sister. Braving the cold outside was Gill, mum to Hannah and Sarah, meeting and greeting with a basket of sweets for the children.

And then in the Undercroft Pete and Patricia were offering activities for the children: colouring and drawing and the Marble Game, similar to Bagatelle – always a favourite. To add to the fun and atmosphere there was our favourite Burger Van and it was definitely an ‘Eat a Burger Day’.

Mary & Brian Naylor with mince pies and mulled wine

There was plenty for everyone while waiting to see Santa. Above all, there was a great festive atmosphere, and our thanks go to the families that trusted in us and came in spite of the challenging weather.

Santa saw over 150 children and, some time after 3 o’ clock,  he said goodbye to his last young visitor.

Tilly-Meg Churchman of Belper, aged 6, with Santa

But Santa had made a special promise to Evie, which he now kept. Evie had been coming to see Santa every year, but because she was poorly with COVID, she couldn’t come this year, and so Santa paid a special quick visit to Evie in Heage as he left Heage Windmill. They waved to each other through the window.

Get well soon Evie from Santa and all your friends at the windmill.

Tim C and Anthony were Duty Millers and Tim L, definitely, was ‘Man Of The Match’ – Santa!

Cobweb Day – October 31st

The forecast had been dire and the day began with stormy rain, totally unfit to be out in. However, the rain did pass and the sun appeared in time for the 12 o’clock web spinning start. It was cold but mainly dry and in the background there was the magnificent sight of the mill with her sails turning. 

 

 

It was cold but mainly dry and in the background there was the magnificent sight of the mill with her sails turning. 

 

Our mother spider Lynn Allen started spinning the web, and this year she was helped by our friend from the American Cars, Attila Csorba. It is so important for the success of the spinning that nobody lets their section of the web slip through their fingers, but everybody concentrated and the cobweb was a great triumph.

Now the cobweb had to be moved to its final resting place and this required a major effort of synchronisation as the whole web was carried in the air to a neighbouring grass area, where it was fastened to the ground.

 

Meanwhile the shop was busy dealing with flour and other sales, serving drinks and organising tours, the guides were taking tours till after 4 o’clock, and the miller was dealing with a very gusty wind, and eventually had to stop the sails.

 

What a wonderful day and a fitting end to the short 2021 season. The mill and site are now closed until next Spring, with the exception of Santa Day on December 5th.

American Car Day – Another Great Success

The Stars and Stripes flag was raised at 8.30 on the morning of October 10th as final preparations were made for this momentous event at Heage Windmill.

Attila Csorba, a great friend of the mill and the instigator of this event, was a significant part of an excellently organised day which, once again, proved a great success.

The American Car Day is always a colourful, atmospheric and fun event. The owners are full of good humour and totally relaxed, and of course immensely proud of their ‘beauties’.  Also, every time an engine starts up, there is that wonderful V8 throaty sound!

 

To add to the success of the day, the Visitor Centre organised tours in and around the windmill throughout the day with over 60 people taken round the mill.

Feedback in the Visitors Book was very encouraging. Sales of ice cream, flour, tea and coffee, souvenirs kept the shop staff busy.

The two ‘Bs’, the Burger Van and Bric a Brac, were, as ever, very popular, but the main joy was to be able to walk among the wonderful vehicles, to talk with the owners and enjoy the sight of the windmill with its sails turning, knowing that Heage Windmill Flour was milled here. And we must not forget the glorious weather!

A final vote of thanks… once again, Bowmer and Kirkland kindly allowed us to us their Car Park. This was a tremendous help, so many thanks to this local firm – and our neighbours, who are always always supportive.

 

Tractor Day – Sunday, September 26th

For the first time since lockdown began, Heage Windmill will be hosting a Tractor Day on Sunday, September 26th from 11.00 am to 3.30 pm.

Tractor Day is always a welcome event at Heage Windmill as these vintage machines complement the 225-year-old two-star listed windmill: tractors were responsible for changing farming practices forever, helping to make horses redundant.

We are expecting about 20 to 30 tractors at the mill.  These will include a 60-year-old Fordson Major and some David Browns, together with Field Marshalls and Massey Fergusons, most of which  have been restored to pristine working condition.

We are also expecting a steam engine and barn engine to be on site plus an assortment of small portable steam engines. The mill will award a certificate to Tractor of the Day. John Allsop, who organises the Tractor group said: ‘All our group enjoy coming to Heage windmill because we love both tractors and this wonderful old windmill’.

New Trustees

Heage Windmill has appointed two new Trustees.

LUCY JAMES, who lives in Heage, was recently been appointed Treasurer of both the Trust and of the supporting body, Friends of Heage Windmill (FoHW).  She automatically becomes a Trustee of the windmill.

JACK EVANS,  who lives in South Normanton (but is originally from Heage) and was recently elected as Vice Chair of the Friends, has been nominated as one of the representatives of Friends on the Trust.  His nomination has been accepted by the Trust..

We believe  both will play a significant part in the future of the windmill and wish them well.

In addition, Roger Hatcher was recently  elected as Chair of FoHW. He was already a Trustee by virtue of his previous role as Vice-Chair of FoHW and will continue to be one.

Special Opening to Sell Flour

What a day it was on Saturday, March 21st.  So many bakers got in touch with us to ask if there was flour available.  It really made us aware that baking is such a popular leisure activity and, that for many, Heage Windmill Flour is the flour to use.

Jenny Land collects the sacks of freshly milled flour from Millers Tim Castledine (on left) and Alan Eccleston.
Jenny bags the flour in the Undercroft

With Saturday March 21st having a good wind forecast, and with it already  scheduled as a milling day – plus the fact that we already had about 60 bags of flour on the shelves – we decided to open the mill specially for flour sales.

Amazingly the shelves were very soon all but empty  as baking enthusiasts flocked to the mill.  It was then that the decision was made to bag and sell the flour which was currently being milled – normally the bagging of the flour would be on a separate occasion.

Over 100 bags were sold in total. The shop closed at 2.00pm but the milling went on until 4.00pm.

While the shop was busy selling flour David Land set up a small bric a brac on a mill wall.  This added to the great fun feeling of the morning.

Some visitors were disappointed when the flour ran out but in the lovely sunshine there was a great spirit of joie de vivre, much needed in these anxious times.

Lynn Allen in the Mill shop with the remaining bags of flour

Peter Straw Remembered

It is with great regret that Heage Windmill has to announce the death of Peter Straw who was Chairman of the Friends for 13 years, standing down in 2014 for health reasons.

When Peter and his wife Celia moved to the area, they went to an early meeting of the Friends of Heage Windmill. Shortly after this Peter was voted in as chairman and held the position for 13 years until he stood down as Chair at the 2014 AGM. He took up the post in 2002 which was when the Mill opened to the public. Peter had also been a Trustee for 10 years.

Not everyone will realise the amount of work that Peter did in the background, not just at the Mill itself but attending meetings far and wide to promote the organisation, always looking for opportunities to enhance the mill experience for visitors. Also, Peter was always more than happy to encourage visitors to make the most of their time in Derbyshire by visiting other local tourist attractions. Throughout he was well supported by his wife Celia.

Over the years he worked tirelessly for the Mill. He was very dedicated and enthusiastic in everything he did. He was very caring towards all volunteers and very good at getting the best out of people. The volunteers who worked alongside him had nothing but praise for Peter and they had never known him to lose his temper. He had a calming influence and was always happy to listen to those volunteers with problems.

Until he retired Peter was a regular guide at the Mill, making it come alive for the visitors. He also stood Bakewell Farmers’ Market on occasions on behalf of Heage Windmill.

Under Peter’s chairmanship the Mill gained and successfully retained the 5-star rating from Amber Valley Borough Council for Health and Hygiene.

Again, under Peter’s watch the Mill gained and successfully retained the Place of Interest Quality Assurance Scheme (PIQAS) status.

In his retirement from the Mill he still visited and supported all the events.

All the Friends and Trustees would like to extend their deepest sympathy to his widow, Celia plus all of his family.

 

Christmas Quiz 2018 Answers

What The Dickens!

1) A Christmas Carol

2) Great Expectations

3) Oliver Twist

4) A Tale Of Two Cities

5) Hard Times

 

Xmas Letter Equations

6)  2 Front Teeth = All I Want For Christmas

7)  9 = Reindeer in Santa’s Sleigh

8)  3 = Ghosts of Christmas (Past, Present & Future

9)  4 = Weeks in Advent

10)0 = Creatures Stirring

 

Crack The Code

11) Bread

12) Potato

13) Pasta

14) Rice

15) Cabbage

 

It’s In The Stars

16) Pegasus

17) Orion

18) Sagittarius

19) Ursa Major

20) Andromeda

Oh Carol!

21) Good King Wencelas

22) The First Noel

23) O Little Town Of Bethlehem

24) Ding Dong Merrily On High

25) I Saw Three Ships

Christmas In The Title

26) Wonderful Christmas Time – Paul Macartney

27) Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas – Judy Garland

28) Do They Know It’s Christmas? – Band Aid

29) All I Want For Christmas Is You – Mariah Carey

30) It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas – Johnny Mathis

 

Pass The Popcorn

31) Jack Skellington

32) A Christmas Story

33) The Polar Express

34) Howard Blake

35) Jack Frost

 

My Word

36) Eggnog               37) Chestnut

38) Myrrh                   39) Toboggan

40) Wassail

 

Tree-mendous!

41) Norway Spruce

42) Douglas Fir

43) Blue Spruce

44) Normand Fir

45) Fraser Fir

 

And Finally

46) Auld Fang Syne

47) Elfis Presley

48) They always drop their needles

49) Deep pan, crisp and even

50) Noel Coward

 

How Did You Do?

46 – 50             Incandescent

41 – 45             Brilliant

36 – 40             Polished

31 – 35             Matte

Less than 30     Black Hole